Six families in Twin Falls County took a major step toward homeownership this week as the Southern Idaho Community Action Partnership held a groundbreaking ceremony in Buhl for its Group 21 Self-Help Housing initiative.
The timing underscores the program’s momentum: just two days before the Buhl ceremony, eight families from Group 20 received keys to their completed homes, marking another round of successful construction under the nonprofit’s long-running effort to expand affordable housing across the region.
A Three-Year Wait Reaches Its Moment
Angie Chavez, one of the six Group 21 recipients, has been waiting roughly three years to reach this point on the program’s waiting list. For Chavez, the groundbreaking represents far more than the start of a building project. “I have been waiting on the list for about three years,” Chavez told KMVT. “Finally getting to you know, go through the process of starting to build my house, you know it’s a start of my future as well.”
The timing holds personal significance: Chavez’s brother completed a home through the same program, making her homeownership milestone a family achievement within a community-driven model that has reshaped housing in the Magic Valley.
How the Self-Help Model Works
The Self-Help Housing Program sets itself apart through a labor-intensive partnership between participants and SCCAP. Families in Group 21 will contribute approximately 65 percent of the labor required to construct their homes, working roughly 35 hours per week throughout the building process. That sweat equity reduces construction costs and creates genuine ownership stakes before families ever receive keys.
SCCAP CEO Shalynn Kellogg highlighted the program’s continuity and scale. “It’s really exciting for us to be able to go from one project to the next because then that just means we’re continuously bringing homes to the community,” Kellogg told KMVT, reflecting on the back-to-back completion of Group 20 and launch of Group 21.
Expanding Housing in Twin Falls County
The nonprofit’s housing initiatives align with broader efforts across Twin Falls County to address workforce and community needs. Chobani has distributed meals to thousands of local families through its summer initiative, while College of Southern Idaho opened a Jerome Career Center with vocational programs to build workforce capacity, addressing some of the same economic foundations that stable housing supports.
For the six families now beginning construction in Buhl, homeownership through SCCAP’s Self-Help model offers an alternative to traditional lending paths. The combination of sweat equity, community partnership, and nonprofit support creates a pathway that addresses both the immediate housing shortage and the long-term financial stability of families across the region.
Group 21 construction is expected to move forward over the coming months, with program participants juggling their 35-hour weekly commitment to the homes alongside other employment and family responsibilities—a demanding schedule balanced against the prospect of permanent ownership in their community.